I have absolutely no idea what denpa is, but it’s the theme of Quake’s latest Exit Trance series. Moe Mania suggests that “Denpa-kei is a certain genre of music, used in anime, hentai and games. It’s often very cute, explicit and sometimes a bit off-putting, depending on who you ask. All in all, it’s very very moe!” So, uhh, yeah. I don’t see how that’s any different than their Ecstasy series. ^^; If I’m understanding it correctly, then the songs will be similar to “Motteke! Sailor Fuku.”

The follow-up release to SATB The Movie starts the new year off with more popular anime movie themes. The tracks are almost all new except for track 17, “One more time, One more chance,” which previously appeared on UmaUma Trance 4. However, this version will have new vocals from Takanori instead of Nine.

Again, B.U.S. is noticeably absent, no doubt busy working on his album.

Victor’s entry in the Disco Around 50 series will focus on Step music. I’m not really sure what that means, but apparently Arabesque’s “Hello Mr. Monkey” exemplifies it. The track list is very similar to Victor’s aborted Shinjuku Disco Hits release.

The CD was originally listed as “Club atom Vol. 5,” but the title has since been changed. This is actually a rather surprising release since Vol. 4 was released way back in 2007. I wonder what would prompt Victor to release another CD in the series after such a long hiatus? CDJapan’s description suggests that the CD will include not only trance, but house as well.

Okay, at this point I’m really concerned about FARM. Their last few releases have been nothing but repeats, and this looks like it won’t buck the trend. Yes, there are a few new songs, but for the most part the track list contains repeats from their Anime*Dance series.

The long-delayed Speedisko Vol. 1 finally makes it debut. If I remember correctly there was supposed to be a cover of “Never Gonna Give You Up,” but it looks like it didn’t make it.

Anyway, Speedisko Vol. 1 is supposed to be the first in a series of Disko Warp compilations. One of the highlights of this first volume is an excellent, new Cusimo & Co. Speedy mix of “Lolitabot.” I was lukewarm to the original speedy mix, but this remix is absolutely perfect. The incredible Ricardo Autobahn remix of “Sexy Vampire” also makes an appearance, albeit in radio edit form.

There’s supposed to be a collaboration with Magic Hammer, which I assume is track 2 since it’s the only eurobeat song on the album. I wish the vocals were a little clearer, but the synthwork is top notch. I’m also quite partial to “UFO Catcher,” a catchy new instrumental song by Initial P.

Piano Dance Christmas came out late last month on iTunes, but I thought it’d be more appropriate to post about it closer to Christmas. It’s more of a mini-album, actually, and it includes one repeat (the inexplicably ubiquitous “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence”).

The single is now available for purchase on iTunes and various other Japanese download services. Keep in mind that Avex still haven’t made the switch to iTunes Plus, so if you grab the single from there you’ll get saddled with DRM and likely a low bit rate as well.

The second single from singer Mai Kotone, who has contributed numerous tracks to the Anime*Dance series. Her first single, Dreamscape* was limited to 1,000 copies and sold out immediately. It doesn’t appear that CDJapan will be stocking this CD, but you can get it from HMV or Amazon.

Delayed a week from its original December 16 release date. Although the CD is mostly composed of repeats from Quake Trance, there are a few new tracks by established epic trance producers. Expect new tracks from DJ Tora, DJ Ozawa, DJ Kenny, and Overhead Champion, among others.